Break the chains
by daggerblade123
Summary: Derek and Penelope find themselves the parents of a fourteen-year-old girl after a traumatizing experience leaves her orphaned, but the people who killed her parents aren't ready to let her go.
1. Chapter 1

_The cold air whipped at Abigail's face. Her hands and feet were bound, and her mouth was duct taped shut. Her feet were bare. She spent the whole day praying that someone would come and save her. There wasn't much else she could do. The barn door opened, and she prepared herself for the worst. She turned away from the man, and let out a small whimper._

 _"No no no," the man said," Abigail, it's me."_

 _When she heard his voice, Abigail turned around. She could barely believe her eyes. Her father was standing right in front of her. She was safe. She could go home. He untied her wrists and gave her a hug. Then, a gunshot rang out. Abigail screamed as her father fell in front of her._

* * *

Abigail jolted awake as a small scream escaped her lips.

"It's okay," Penelope said," you're safe."

Penelope was holding her hand. Derek was leaning against the wall.

"Where am I?"

"You're in a hospital," Derek said," my name is Derek Morgan, and this is my wife, Penelope. Do you remember what happened?"

Abigail thought for a moment. Her eyes watered.

"Mom, and dad," she whispered," are they-?"

"Abigail, " Penelope said," I'm so sorry."

Abigail was quiet for a little bit, but then she lifted her blanket and revealed the image of a chain tattooed on her leg.

"They branded me," she said," they're never going to let me go."

"Abigail, listen to me," Derek said," you can't do this to yourself. They may have scarred you, but they can't hurt you anymore. They're both dead. You won."

"Both?"

"Yeah," Derek said," they can't get to you."

"But, there were five men," she said," they only came alone or in pairs, but I remember all of them."

Penelope looked up at her husband, but he was already out the door. Morgan turned the corner and called Hotch.

"Hotch," Derek said," we've got a problem."

"What's up?"

"Abigail says there were five men at the barn," he answered," so there are three criminals on the loose."

"She could be wrong," Hotch said," she's been through a lot."

"I know," Derek said," but if there's a chance she's right, then the local police need to know."

"I'll have the lieutenant send over a sketch artist, but after that, you need to take her home," Hotch ordered," Have you told her yet?"

"No," Derek to him," I never got the chance, but I will."

Derek hung up and went back to the room.

* * *

"Hotch is sending someone to help us find the other three men," he informed them.

"Who's Hotch?"

A woman walked into the room and introduced herself as a social worker.

"Abigail, I am so sorry about what happened to you," she said," and I'm going to do my best to make this process go as smoothly as possible. Your parents named Penelope Morgan as your godmother, so they should be able to take you home as soon as you're discharged from the hospital. I just need to speak with her in private for a few minutes."

Penelope got up and followed the social worker out to the hallway, leaving Abigail alone with Derek.

"So, are you in the FBI?"

"No," Derek answered," I used to be, but I quit so I could marry Penelope. Now I'm a detective with the local police department."

"Cool," Abigail said," do you think they're going to come after me?"

"Abigail, the people who took you aren't risk takers. I don't think they would follow you to Virginia," Derek said.

"I know it's dumb, but I kind of made friends with one of them," she said," well, not really friends. It's just, he was young. Like sixteen or seventeen, and he was kind of protective over me. I thought that if I got him to like me, he would let me go. I got him to tell me his name. It was Peter."

"That's not dumb at all," Derek said," you just did what you had to do to survive. Do you want to talk about the other five?"

"The men who took me to the van after my dad was killed were brothers. They owned the property they were keeping me on.," she said," they killed themselves together when we were surrounded. They did it right in front of me."

"I'm sorry you had to see that," Derek said sincerely.

"The next man kept trying to get the leader to let him hurt me. One night, when we were alone, he went into the barn, blindfolded me and took me to the house where they were keeping my mother. He made me change into a short dress in front of him, and then he made me dance for him," she said.

Abigail paused and took a deep breath.

"That night, the leader stormed in and saw me. He was so mad," she said," that was the night they killed my mother. Or at least I think it was. Before that night, every time I was disobedient, they would threaten to hurt her. After that night, they never spoke about her."

Abigail started crying and wrapped her arms around herself. Reliving everything was harder than she thought it would be. Derek put a hand on her shoulder.

"We're going to find these people," he said," and they aren't going to hurt you anymore."


	2. Chapter 2

_The van sped down the gravel road. The two brothers were talking up front._

 _"Why'd we even agree to this? Now we have to kill her," one of the brothers said," I never wanted to lay a hand on her. I never wanted any part of this, Andy."_

 _At the word kill, Abigail began to panic. She screamed, kicked, and tried to free her self from her newly tightened bonds._

 _"Please don't cry," Andy said," I promise we'll make it quick."_

 _"We wouldn't have to make anything quick if you hadn't agreed to work with these people," his brother raged._

 _"Shut up for a second," Andy ordered._

 _The van was silent with the exception of Abigail's muffled cries. The next sound they heard caused the brother's to panic, and Abigail to perk up. Sirens. Police sirens surrounded the van. Blue lights flashed around the van. The brothers each pulled guns from their belts and looked each other in the eye._

 _"FBI," a woman yelled," drop your weapons and step out of the vehicle!"_

 _The brothers placed the gun barrels underneath their chins and pulled the trigger. Blood splattered everywhere. Abigail screamed. The back doors flew open to reveal a man with dark hair._

 _"Abigail," he said," it's okay. My name is Aaron Hotchner. I'm with the FBI. I'm going to get you out of here. You're safe."_

 _He untied her, and carefully pulled the duct tape off her mouth._

 _"Can you walk?"_

 _"I think so," Abigail said._

 _He helped her out of the van and lead her to an ambulance. Once she was inside, a woman with dark hair pulled Aaron aside. For the first time in weeks, Abigail had time to worry about her future. Before, she had focused on surviving. Was her mother alive? If not, where would she go? Her newfound relief was replaced with anxiety. She wasn't ready to be alone. She wanted someone to be there for her._

 _"I'm going to ride with her," Aaron said._

 _He climbed in and sat down next to her while holding her hand._

" _I'll stay with you as long as you need me to," he promised._

* * *

"Abigail," Derek said," do you want some hot chocolate?"

Abigail was snapped back into the present and quickly tried to blink away her tears.

"Uh, yeah, sure," she said," thanks."

"You okay kid?" Dave asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine," Abigail said," I'm just trying to wrap my head around everything that happened."

"That's normal," Spencer assured her," and I promise it gets easier."

Abigail nodded.

"I just realized that I never really thanked you all for saving me," she said.

"You don't have to thank us," JJ said," we're all just happy you're safe."

"If you ever need to talk," Penelope said," you can talk to me."

"Thank you," Abigail said.

Derek brought her a cup of hot chocolate. She set it on the table and pulled a book and a pen from her bag. She started writing something.

"Back when my parents were getting divorced," she explained," my counselor suggested that I keep a journal. I wrote in it every day until they took me and my mom. Even then, I managed to get Peter to give me one. Every night when he would bring me dinner, he'd give me time to write in it."

The team exchanged looks.

"Abigail," Aaron said," do you remember where he kept your journal?"

"I think it was under a loose floorboard in the back of the barn," she said," but the leader found it. I'm pretty sure he destroyed it. He was so mad at Peter, but he never said a word to me. He just stared at me. He never spoke to me while I was there, but he would speak to the other men, but never to me."

Abigail shuddered. Penelope put an arm around her.

"It's okay," she said," you're safe."

"Sorry," Abigail said," I keep trying to piece together what happened, but then I remember one thing, and then another, and in a few seconds, it's like I'm there. You know?"

"You don't have to be sorry," Spencer said," You can talk about this to any of us. It helps."

Abigail tried to shake the uneasy feeling in her gut, but it wouldn't go away. She couldn't let herself relax.


End file.
